January i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



123 



ment there. It is not a chimerical proposition at all. It 

 is to the interest of every user of a rubber tire, to every 

 railroad company — to every consumer of rubber in any 

 form — that the cost of rubber be minimized, and one 

 important item involves the expense of handling freight 

 at the mouth of the Amazon. 



Considered alone, the improvement of the port of 

 Para does not measure with the great engineering works 

 of the world, yet it is of distinct importance and interest 

 to the rubber trade on account of the fact that more than 

 half the crude rubber entering into consumption of the 

 world is to-day "lightered" from Para trapichcs into 

 steamers for New York and Europe. There is beyond 

 this, however, the possibility that allied capitalistic inter- 

 ests may go much further and combine with this assured 

 improvement at Para other large works of utility that 

 likewise have a bearing upon commerce in rubber. Prior 

 to the beginning of the Para enterprise something had 

 been done at IManaos to facilitate the shipment of rubber, 

 and last of all is the projected Madeira-Mamore railway, 

 which now appears to be a certainty. With the Para 

 and Manaos harbor improvements facilitating ocean ship- 

 ments, and the circumventing of the falls of the Madeira 

 accomplished, and all working in concert — ^through an 

 understanding between the investors — isn't it possible 

 that the handling of rubber between forest and factory 

 may be materially cheapened ? 



The dream has been indulged in many times that by 

 "bottling up the Amazon" the Para rubber supply could 

 be so monopolized as to enable a few men to put their 

 own price upon the raw material. But this would be 

 against public policy, and could not long prevail. How- 

 ever, the mere suggestion of the matter has done more 

 than any other one thing to stimulate the planting of 

 rubber in Asia. The intelligent investment of capital does 

 not depend for success upon monopoly, but upon promot- 

 ing permanently the general good, and this seems to 

 afford a sound basis for the grouping of such interests as 

 have been mentioned here in connection with the rubber 

 region. We do not know that this suggestion has been 

 put into words before, and it may be long before the idea 

 here outlined is realized, but its realization would seem 

 as natural as has been the development of the system 

 whereby wheat from the western United States is so 

 cheaply placed in the hands of consumers beyond the 

 Atlantic. The prospect may not be pleasing to the rubber 

 planting interests, but the latter will have ample time in 

 which to strengthen their position before the possibilities 

 of the Amazon have been taken advantage of. 



The recent svccessful bicycle show in London— the thirty- 

 second annual "Stanley" show — indicates an interest in cycling 

 among Britishers in striking contrast with anything that obtains 

 in the United States. Almost simultaneous with the London 

 show a "six days' bicycle race" attracted thousands daily and 

 nightly to Madison Square Garden in New York, but this was a 

 "sporting" event, with the wheel merely as an incident. It was 

 run solely for the benefit of the promoters, and had no beneficial 

 effect upon any legitimate cycling interest — not even as a healthful 



sport. The zenith of the bicycle trade in this country occurred 

 in i8g6, when the net earnings of the concerns which later were 

 combined in the $40,000,000 American Bicycle Co. are reported 

 to have been $7,763,460.39. Though the directorate of the big 

 company was composed of the men who had built up this great 

 industry, they were unable to maintain it when the popular in- 

 terest in cycling began to decline. All that saved the corpora- 

 tion from absolute failure was the absorption of its depreciated 

 assets by a former leader in the bicycle industry, who formed a 

 new company, on a vastly smaller scale, and now that has had 

 to undergo reorganization, with a view to the manufacture prin- 

 cipally of automobiles. Of course the bicycle has not disappeared 

 altogether from American life, and there are even signs of a 

 revival of the cycling interest, in the renewed efforts of rubber 

 manufacturers to market bicycle tires. 



The Canadian rubber trade for the last fiscal year, the first 

 months of which were concurrent with the late financial de- 

 pression in the United States, on the whole, made a good 

 showing. From the details on another page, it will be seen 

 that the exports of rubber manufactures were larger than the 

 average, and were widely distributed. At the same time, the 

 imports of such goods were larger than for a few years past, 

 though smaller than five years ago. The recent increase 

 may be due to a growing use of rubber goods, involving a 

 demand for special articles which the Canadian factories are 

 not in a position to supply as economically as some concerns 

 elsewhere. It is due to some such consideration that the im- 

 portation of rubber goods into the United States continues to 

 increase. The imports of raw materials into the Dominion 

 for the last fiscal year showed a marked increase. 



The number of patents issued in the United States during 

 the last fiscal year was greater than in any previous twelve 

 months, despite the occurrence meanwhile of what a good many 

 people termed "hard times," which indicates that inventors 

 work whether other people do or not. It is of interest to note 

 that patents continue to be issued for novelties in the rubber trade 

 at a rate which doubtless would surprise Goodyear or Hancock 

 were they now alive, for those gentlemen departed this life 

 with the idea that the whole sum and substance of endeavor in 

 rubber goods was wrapped up in their discoveries. 



France is the only country manufacturing rubber goods 

 from which the imports of such goods into the United States 

 e.xceed in value our exports to the same country. Last year we 

 bought from France $539,480 worth and sold her only $230,334, 

 showing an "adverse balance" of $309,146. Without an oppor- 

 tunity for close analysis of the figures, it seems safe to assume 

 that French tires are still coming into the American market in 

 considerable quantities. 



The Editor of The India Rubber World is in receipt of a 

 very lengthy article on the "Beginnings of India-rubber," from 

 the pen of an Englishman — one who calls himself a student. He 

 speaks of the late Charles Goodyear as "Mr. Goodyear of 

 Rhode Island, Connecticut." As a matter of suggestion we wish 

 to inform him that Rhode Island is no longer the capital of 

 Connecticut. 



If the City of New York, which already owns 231 automobiles 

 for the use of its officials, should go much further in the owner- 

 ship of these swift vehicles, we need not be surprised to see a 

 municipal tire factory established to supply their rubber 

 equipment. 



The weather lately has been as favorable for the motor and 

 tire trade as it has been unfavorable for rubber shoes. 



